


Another Fairy Tale

by TrepidationChance



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Gen, M/M, Mikasa Ackerman & Levi Are Related
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2016-12-02
Packaged: 2018-09-03 19:10:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8726776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrepidationChance/pseuds/TrepidationChance
Summary: To the Commander of the Royal Guard, Irwin Smith,The Prince of Sina, Levi Ackerman,Two Members of the Special Operations Squad, Petra Ral and Auruo Bozado,You have been invited to the Coming of Age Ceremony for The Princess of Sina, Mikasa Ackerman.Please arrive promptly at 7pm tonight.Formal wear is required for this celebration.We hope to see you all there.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this quite a while ago for a friend and recently found it while I was cleaning out the dust from my computer.  
> It's old, so I'm not sure how relevant it is to the current continuity of SNK, but I'm hoping it's still an okay fic.  
> Hope you enjoy it~

Levi was a curious child; not that he himself was curious, but that he was found to be a curiosity. He didn’t seem to fit in with his family which included the darling father Irwin, the lovely daughter Petra and the questionable son Auruo. Of course, they were not blood related. Irwin, whose occupation resided in the royal army, decided to take in orphaned children. Sure, his reputation was slightly tarnished due to this, but he had the money to spend and had always wanted children.

However, there was a different reason as to how Levi stumbled into this dysfunctional family. His father, the brother of the King, felt that if Levi was to become part of the royal family, regardless if he were to become the ruler of the country, he had to learn humility to be able see in the eyes of an ordinary citizen. Unfortunately, Levi was as much of a prodigy as his cousin Mikasa; he wasn’t ashamed of himself in any way. As time passed, the destruction continued and the royal family decided that one of them had to be kicked out before they destroyed the castle walls any longer. As Levi was older and his father was the one who proposed the idea, he got placed into the hands of their most trusted knight, Irwin.

~~~~~~~~

It was a sunny day when the metal flap was forced open by the horrid letter that was slotted into the front door annually. As Levi was the early riser in the family, he was unknowingly nominated to be the one who made breakfast and other morning rituals a normal household mother would do. He cringed when the clang of metal rang in the silent house, echoing in his ears. He was currently cleaning the kitchen and felt reluctant to leave it while filth continued to stick to its walls.

Coming to a decision, he left his tablecloth on the kitchen bench and walked to the front door. That was when he was faced with the royal seal of Sina. His right eye twitching, he pinched the corner of the envelope, carefully placing it on the dining table. As much as he wanted to burn the damn letter, Irwin would hand his ass on a silver platter to him. Last time he attempted to drown it in the dishwasher, Irwin had pulled it out in the morning and gave Levi a lengthy lecture about the respect he should have for his own kinsmen.

 _Kinsmen that kicked me out the castle… So what if I cracked a few of Mum’s pots or shattered the glass windows in the courtyard?_ Anyway, it was about time for French Fries and his little minions to wake up. As soon as this passed through his mind, a yawn that could challenge a bear’s roar resonated from upstairs.

 _That’s my cue_. Levi ran back to the kitchen and cooked up a storm for the three hungry lions (and lioness) that was bound to devour everything before he had a bite. While he plated up his own breakfast, he sensed a tall figure bend over his shoulder.

“Good morning, darling.” Irwin whispered in his ear.

“Sweetie, leave me alone. I’m trying to get my breakfast before the kids come.” Sarcasm rolled off his tongue like honey in his reply.

“I saw the invitation on the table, good job holding back your inner instincts to trash it.” Removing himself from Levi’s back, he grabbed his own plate and shoved Levi aside, reaching for the tongs to deck a large pile of salad onto it. Suddenly, a loud crash could be heard from where Levi assumed to be the bottom of the stairwell.

“Petra, get off me!”

“No! You’ll just eat everything and not leave me anything! I’m so hungry I could eat a horse, maybe even you!”

“Dude, that’s cannibalism!”

“You probably wouldn’t taste nice anyway! Let me go, Auruo!”

The squeaking of bare feet on freshly polished wooden floors caused Levi’s eye to twitch again; he had only just cleaned the planks and already the smelly feet of his adopted siblings stained the perfect job he had done. When the face of Auruo popped around the corner, he accurately hit it with his feather duster which he whipped out from his bag of cleaning supplies, causing Auruo to fall down. An instant K.O .

Petra ran into the kitchen, mercilessly stepping on the limb body on the floor to join Irwin at the table.

“Morning, Levi!”

“Morning.”

“... Why dith you ohly hith me, Lehai?” whimpered Auruo from his position on the ground.

“The both of you were too noisy in the morning. You just appeared in front of me first.” Levi said with a passive face. He watched silently as Auruo stood up, blood dripping from his chin. Petra tutted at him.

“Why do you always bite your tongue? So lame…”

“No way! I’m perfeck in ewewy way!” He tried to spin without splashing blood over the floor. Deeming it impossible, he stood still, deciding that cupping his hands under his chin was a safer way to live.

“No, the only thing you do is attempt to be Levi. There’s nothing impressive about you, after all, unlike him.” Petra retorted back.

Irwin shook his head. “Kids, you need to cooperate with each other. Now, eat breakfast and then we can find out what kind of letter we have received from the royals.” This snapped Petra and Auruo’s attention back to reality. That’s right, the letter! They both stared at the sealed envelope on the table. Bubbling with excitement, they looked at each other and simultaneously nodded.

They grabbed the frying pan and with meticulous skill, took turns to shovel food down their throats. When there wasn’t a single crumb remaining, they turned to Irwin, puppy eyes begging to open the letter. Irwin, who was susceptible to them, gave them a nod of confirmation.

Giddily, the two surrounded the envelope, staring longingly. It was rare to receive a letter with the royal seal on it, most of them resulting to a visit to the castle and eating a large buffet filled with the best ingredients of the country. Of course these two would be happy, but Levi had his fists clenched. He didn’t hate his family, but it did hurt to see them treat him with a sense of unfamiliarity.

Soon enough, the seal was peeled off, leaving its contents naked to two very excited pairs of eyes. A small card was revealed, with cursive font written with a quill and green ink. There was a stamp on the top right hand corner, purposely placed to represent the heart salute. The stamp was the crest of the royal family: a pair of overlapping black and white wings on a shield, in this case the black was replaced with a royal blue.

**_To the Commander of the Royal Guard, Irwin Smith,_ **

**_The Prince of Sina, Levi Ackerman,_ **

**_Two Members of the Special Operations Squad, Petra Ral and Auruo Bozado,_ **

**_You have been invited to the Coming of Age Ceremony for The Princess of Sina, Mikasa Ackerman._ **

**_Please arrive promptly at 7pm tonight._ **

**_Formal wear is required for this celebration._ **

**_We hope to see you all there._ **

Wide eyes stared at the invitation, scanning the letters to see any loopholes or hidden messages. Finding none, Petra and Auruo squealed.

“Petra! They wrote us in the invitation! US!” Turning to face Levi, he was met with a poker face. Realising his mistake, he covered his joy with a twist of his mouth. “It’s not like I want to go…” he muttered under his breath. He looked at Petra to see her unpleased face. “But I’ll go if you go, Petra!” Nodding, he faced Irwin who smiled with amusement. Feeling cooped up between all these conflicting faces, he lowered his eyes to the floor. “What about you, Irwin? Will you go?”

Irwin hummed in thought. “I suppose. I have the duty over their safety. Levi will be coming too, naturally.” Levi looked up at him, eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

“No, I’m not. If they kicked me out, then they obviously don’t want me back in. Anyway, with the mess you lot did, I’m going to have to clean the house from top to bottom again.” Irwin tries to interrupt, but Levi didn’t leave a space to breathe. “Before you say anything, yes, I know she is my cousin, but I’m going to just ruin her day if I went. Anyway, the house really does need cleaning.”

“But you cleaned it yesterday!”

“…and? It’s still as filthy as rat piss. Don’t tell me about language, Irwin. You swear in every sentence when you’re intoxicated. Anyway, what’s the date of the ceremony? That’s right, today. That means you need to get yourselves formal wear. Go, hustle. Your wardrobes are bare of that stuff. Go shopping. See you tonight when you get home. Bye.”

Before they knew it, Levi had pushed them all outside the door, slamming it and locking it from the inside. The three looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders. If he didn’t want to go, he could have said so without all those excuses. They all sighed before trekking their way into town in their sleepwear. Curse mornings.

Meanwhile, Levi lazed around the house. Sure, Irwin was right, the house was still clean from yesterday, but the kitchen was in no shape to be left alone. However, it took less time than Levi predicted to finish polishing both the kitchen tiles and the wooden floors. Now he was bored, flopping onto the massive couch.

Looking up at the clock, he saw that the time was only three in the afternoon. Considering that Irwin, Petra and Auruo had woken up at the late hour of eleven this morning, it meant he had only wasted four hours out of the twelve he had to spend. Sighing, he covered his eyes with his arm, shading them from the piercing rays that cheekily peeked from behind the clouds. Feeling drowsy, he willingly gave into sleep.

_It’s not like I have to be anywhere…_

~~~~~~~~

“LEVI! WAKEY WAKEY! RISE AND SHINE! Although the sun isn’t shining, it’s already set. TIME TO GET UP! YOU’LL BE LATE! COME ON, CINDERELLA; GET OFF THAT COUCH AND MOVE!”

Levi woke up to the loud bleating from a face he didn’t ever want to wake up to. Sitting up, he swatted - possibly whacked - Hanji’s head away from his and stood up. Facing her fallen self on the floor, he started to grind his heel into her skull.

“What do I have the pleasure of waking up to your ugly face, four-eyes? I’m not late to anything because I have nowhere to be and I was quite content until you woke me up. Now, tell me how you got in and I may not flay you alive with my bare hands.”

Hanji gulped before replying, “I had an acid in my pocket which was tested to be able to melt strong alloy metals so I tried it on your back door…? What did you know, surprise, surprise! It did more than just melt the keyhole; it melted the whole door down! I need to put more research into that… So, I thought I would go inside and see if anyone was in and I saw you and I was surprised once again because as the Prince of Sina, you have your responsibilities and one of them is to go to your cousin’s Coming of Age Ceremony, but you being you would probably not want to go, so I brought some formal wear for you and…” She was cut off when Levi applied more force into his heel.

“So, let me sum it up. Irwin told you I was still home, so you brought over something for me to wear, melted down the back door and forced me to wake up so I could play dress up at Mikasa’s birthday party? Excuse you, but no thanks. I’m not needed there. Also, you’re paying for the door.” Levi made a move to sit down on the couch, but Hanji latched onto his ankle.

“Now, let’s not be hasty, Levi. You’ve been asked to go to the ceremony, so you need to go. Irwin would kill me if I didn’t get you to the castle on time. He also has Sonny and Bean as hostages!”

“What, your pets?” If Levi remembered correctly, they were the two goldfish Hanji kept.

“Excuse you! They are more than just pets! They are my family!”

“What about Moblit?”

“He’s not important at the moment! What’s important is saving my babies and getting you to the castle!” Looking pitifully at Levi, she added a last line that stooped low on the morality belt. “Unless, you’re scared you’re too old to beat Mikasa…?” Levi’s eye twitched, causing him to slap his hand over it.

_No, don’t show your weakness to this madwoman! She’s experienced in psychologically twisting one’s mind. I can’t falter now!_

After collecting his thoughts, he placed his poker face over his frustrated emotions.

“Do you doubt me? Me, of all people?”

“No, of course I don’t!” She smirked. “However, do you doubt yourself?”

“Of course not.” Levi strongly replied.

Hanji stood up, and then bowed, offering her hand to him, “Then come hither. Let us go to the ball, your Majesty.”

Handing him a black suit to wear, she waited outside for him to finish changing out of his cleaning clothes. Levi slowly took off his pink apron; a present from Mikasa on his birthday. Although the colour was horrid, it was undeniably easy to wash, becoming his favourite out of the aprons that filled his entire wardrobe.

Left in nothing but his boxers, he took the grey dress shirt and slipped it onto his pale skin, enjoying the feel of soft satin instead of cheap cotton. He did up all the buttons, starting from the top down. Tying on a cravat, he slid into his blazer but found it was too restricting, placing it on his shoulders instead. He tucked his shirt into a pair of black trousers and without glancing into a mirror, he walked outside.

 He ended up face to face with the ugliest horse he had ever seen. Seeing Levi all dressed up, Hanji jumped up and down, rushing over to his side.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you out of that apron! Anyway, this is our transport to the castle! Levi, meet Jean. Jean, meet Levi.” Jean let out a neigh, causing Levi to cringe at the sound. Looking at the beast’s eyes, he sensed a feeling of pride and confidence from the horse, also smugness. He dared the horse to tease his size.

Levi wasn’t the tallest man out there, often subjected to teasing from strangers who didn’t know his violent tendencies. He swore, if this horse insulted him, he would chop off his nuts, mince it and feed it to Sonny and Bean himself. He had a feeling Jean got the message, fear lighting up in his wide eyes.

He walked to the back of the garden and headed to the stables Irwin had stationed there. Inside, there were multiple horses. A few raised their heads to see Levi, greeted him with a soft snort before continuing their previous activities.

Looking around, Levi’s eyes fell onto Flair, a dark mare who stared back at him. Flair was by far his favourite horse, containing a lot of power in her strong legs but still held onto grace. Her glossy hide shone in the moonlight, holding an elegance pictures could never depict. Heading over to her, she almost seems to smile and nod at him when he ran his fingers into her black mane.

Lowering her head, she allowed Levi to climb onto her back without resistance. Levi looked down at Hanji and clicked his tongue. He wasn’t going to ride the same horse as the four-eyes, even if she was the reason he was involved in this mess. Gesturing her to take Jean, he rode on without her.

~~~~~~~~

Arriving at the foot of the stairs, he climbed off Flair and looked at the opened doors at the top of the stairway. How nostalgic. Those doors, now wide open, were the very ones that were closed on him when he was forced to leave his home. Of course, Levi didn’t regret leaving, but it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Was this what they meant when they said the word ‘sentiment’?

Levi shook his head; this wasn’t the time to head down memory lane. He needed to focus. Hanji was able to convince him out of his home and his pride was what made him go. He was determined to stay for the whole night, showing Hanji he wasn’t a coward. He wasn’t scared of a brat like Mikasa!

After he guided Flair into the nearby stables, he strutted through the castle gates, bumping into the two guards who were standing in the doorway.

“Gunther, Erd, nice to see you on this fine night.” _I’m on a roll today_ , thought Levi as sarcasm dripped heavily in his greeting.

“Levi, sir! We’ve been expecting you! Commander told us to keep an eye out for you. Please, this way.” Gunther moved aside, allowing a path for Levi to enter the castle.  Erd saluted to him, right hand on heart.

“Nice to see you too, sir.” he said cheekily. Levi allowed a small smirk to lift his lips before he hid it behind his hand.

“I’ll see you guys early tomorrow for training.” He announced, hiding his amused smile when he was faced with two disappointed pairs of eyes. Walking past the two soldiers, he entered the large ballroom. His entrance caused people to whisper behind fans, keeping their comments supposedly secret from Levi’s sensitive ears.

_“Why is he here?”_

_“He’s the Prince; of course he is here.”_

_“Wasn’t he disowned?”_

_“No, I heard he left on his own accord.”_

_“Such a shame, what a handsome man.”_

Levi shook his head; why did nobles always fall for the stupid rumours? Scanning the room, his eyes met with a familiar face. Heading over towards Mikasa, he passed Irwin who gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

By the time he stood in front of his cousin, she was given enough time to compose her face, using her signature passiveness to cover up any remaining emotions she couldn’t consciously control. He faced her and bowed down.

“Your majesty, congratulations on your coming of age, I hope I wasn’t too late to the ceremony.” Mikasa’s face had trouble disguising her shock, but was able to keep calm and under control. As expected of a fellow Ackerman. “Although I do not have a present for you, I do give you my best wishes.”

“My dear cousin, I do not see why you felt the need to visit me. You are neither the first nor the last to congratulate me. If anything, you probably lose more than gain from my coming of age. Do you regret losing your chance to become king?”

“Only if you do not rule this country properly, cousin mine.” Levi replied smoothly. “However, with much guidance, I believe you will make a fine queen when it is your time. Now excuse me, you’ve probably had enough of my company.” Levi made an effort to bow again, but when he was about to turn, a calloused hand gripped at his wrist. “Mikasa, these are not the hands of a royal.”

“You don’t have delicate hands either, Levi.” It became a stalemate between the two of them, the air so thick you could cut it up and serve it on a platter.

“Is there something you want, Mikasa?”

“…welcome back.” Letting go, she quickly shuffled back, her head facing the ground.

“I’m glad to be back…” replied Levi, somewhat confused at the uncharacteristically affection he had just received. Deciding that questioning it wasn’t worth his time, he walked off without glancing behind himself, only to knock into a giant wall when he was near the exit.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! Are you okay? You’re not hurt anywhere, right?” A tall brunette started fussing over Levi, leaving him feeling uncomfortable. He wasn’t used to strangers asking about his wellbeing, as most would back away from his irritated face. He looked up - to his distaste – at the boy.

Immediately, he was washed in an array of blues and greens, his eyes falling into an aquamarine ocean. Blinking, he mentally shook his head. _No, Levi. Those are the brat’s eyes, not the bloody sea._ Leaning down, he picked up his blazer which had fallen onto the floor, sweeping it over his shoulders.

“Why do you place it on your shoulders?” Looking up again, he noticed the kid covering his mouth, almost as if he had revealed a secret.

“I don’t like being restricted. This blazer is slightly small.”

“There are sizes that don’t actually fit you?” The brat blurted out, before immediately regretting it when he saw Levi’s furious face. Blushing, he hid his entire face in his palms. “I’m sorry! I can’t control my mouth. I didn’t mean to offend your height or anything! In fact, I think it’s cute you have such a short height for an old man! No, wait, I said that wrong! Please, don’t kill me!” Retreating backwards, the boy chose to cower behind a pillar.

Levi gave him a look then took a seat beside the very same pillar he was hiding behind. He was given a curious but cautious look from those gorgeous sea green eyes. _No, you did NOT just compliment his eyes! Snap out of it, Levi!_ Sighing out loud, he looked back at him, receiving an embarrassing squeak.

“Am I that terrifying, brat? What’s a kid like you doing here anyway?”

“I…I work here?” Levi could see through him like glass.

“… Fine, don’t tell me. Anyway, because I’m bored, I command you to keep me company.”

“Who are you to tell me what to do?” The defiance in the teen’s eyes impressed Levi. _Not bad. He’d make a good soldier: full of loyalty and hardest to torture information from. Maybe even from Hanji…_

“Well, if you stay long enough, you may find out.” This made the brat pause in thought. Giving it a bit of thought, he nodded.

“Sure, why not. I don’t want to meet and greet any stuck-up nobles.” _Gave himself away already? I reconsider, this kid will never make it through the first nail; he’d tell the enemy all classified information by mistake before he made it to the torture room ._

Sitting down next to Levi, he leaned against the pillar before continuing the conversation. “You seem close to Mikasa. You guys are friends or something?” _Oh, he noticed something._

If Levi was shocked, it didn’t show on his face. Tilting his head, he directed a smirk at the curious child. “Make a guess. Or is ‘friends’ your guess?”

“No. Your faces were too tight to be friends. She never acts like that around Armin.”

“Armin? That’s her royal advisor, right?”

“Yah. You must be pretty involved with this kingdom if you know that.” _Oh, he’s smooth, but not smooth enough._

“And I don’t suppose the same applies to you too.” Immediately, teen’s face flushed red. Hesitantly chuckling, his eyes averted side to side in nervousness.

“I’m not very good at this game, am I…? Sorry if I’m boring you.”

“Nah, it’s fine. Astoundingly amusing, in fact. Anyway, Brat, why don’t you introduce yourself?”

“The name’s Eren. You?”

“I never said I was going to introduce myself, brat.”

“What? That’s not fair!” Eren huffed out a breath. He started to mutter softly.

 _“Stupid old fart._ He’s _the spoilt brat.”_

“Excuse you, but I believe the only spoilt brat around here you is, brat.” Eren’s face once again glowed a rosy pink. It was cute. _He certainly is soft on the eyes. He’s a minor, so our age difference must be huge… Wait, why am I thinking about senseless details? I’m not going to hit on some kid who only just crawled out of his crib!_

“You’re an idiot.”

“Why?”

“I told you my name, and yet you don’t even use it.”

“Eren. Happy now, kid?” Despite the blush that had already resided on his cheeks, Eren’s face flushed to an alarming shade of scarlet. Entertained with the teen’s reactions, Levi decided it was worth coming to Mikasa’s Coming of Age Ceremony. Standing up, he looked over into the far distance to his left. Sure enough, the clock tower was still standing there despite the damage it received from age and brutal beatings from both Mikasa and himself.

The time was 11 o’clock.

 _Time to go_ , Levi thought. Before he could leave, he felt his sleeve being tugged on. Looking down - for a change - Levi saw two stormy eyes, filled with a blend of indecipherable emotions.

“Wai… I mean… um… could you… erm… teach me how to tie a cravat…?” Eren said hastily and it took all that Levi had not to sigh at the boy’s pitiful state.

_... This kid… Is he serious?_

“Brat, I don’t have the time,” Levi was starting to get irritated, “Here, practise with this until you learn it yourself.” Quickly ripping his cravat off his neck, he threw it was Eren’s face, covering the boy’s eyes momentarily, enough time to loosen the grip on his sleeve and walk pass the doors.

“Wait! Who are you, and will we meet again?” Eren’s voice was forceful, filled with foolish hope. Why would he want to meet Levi again was a mystery even to himself. He just felt as if he would lose something important if he just let him go like this.

“Probably not, but stay on your toes, Brat.”

With that, Levi’s blazer swept behind him as he twirled around, strolling out of the castle without looking back.


End file.
